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Discovery of Rabies

Rabies may be one of the oldest diseases known to mankind. Rabies comes from the Latin word Rabere, which means to rage or rave. An estimated 40,000 to 100,000 people die from rabies each year worldwide.

  1. What Is Rabies?

    • A viral neuroinvasive disease, rabies causes inflammation of the brain in mammals. It is usually transmitted by a bite from an infected animal and typically fatal unless prophylactic treatment is started immediately after exposure.

    First Mention of Rabies

    • The first mention of rabies dates from the 23rd century B.C. People who owned dogs were heavily fined for deaths caused by dog bites. The ancient Greek writers Homer, Democritus and Aristotle would all mention or record cases of canine rabies, though it was also known to infect other warm-blooded animals by this time.

    Widespread Rabies Outbreak

    • In 1271, the first large rabies outbreak was reported. Thirty people died in Franconia, Germany, after rabid wolves invaded villages. The disease continued to spread worldwide, eventually reaching the Americas in 1703, and became common in North America by 1785.

    Human Intervention

    • In 1804, a German scientist named Georg Gottfried Zinke demonstrated how rabies is passed through saliva. In 1883, French chemist Louis Pasteur and his assistant Emil Roux created a rabies vaccine from the spinal cord of an infected animal and tested it on dogs. This resulted in saving the life of Joseph Meister, who was mauled by a rabid dog.

    Significance

    • Though rabies is still contractible worldwide, because of the breakthrough in research, the mortality rate of rabies has dwindled significantly. Isolating the virus and developing the vaccine has saved countless lives and livestock resources.

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